“I don’t think most people know what a song-and-dance man he is. I suspect Damian’s dream gig would be a Broadway musical, and he would be amazing. He actually took tap-dancing lessons throughout the filming of Homeland’s second season.”

Damian shares with People Magazine about his tap-dance classes as well as his love for singing show tunes on set in 2012:

“I’m learning to tap dance. That’s what I love doing. And I love to sing show tunes.” It turns out his favorite CIA agent bought him a Gene Kelly box set for inspiration, and moreover Damian and Mandy Patinkin sang together on set: “…we’ll just break out into a cappella. We did ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ together. He corrects me on the words.”

Now, for those of you that do not know of other incredible talents Saul Berenson has next to spying… Mandy Patinkin is a tenor and a voice artist who is first and foremost known for his work in musical theater, in particular the works of Stephen Sondheim and he won a Tony Award for his role in the original Broadway production of Evita! As it turns out, he and Damian sang together on Homeland set! When asked by Entertainment Weekly about the most challenging and thrilling moments on Homeland Set during the first season, here is what Damian says:

“…the most challenging of all was the lie detector scene and Mandy Patinkin was there and we tried to do an a capella version of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ That was the most thrilling.”

“Oh my God. I can’t believe you’re even asking! Mandy. He sat me down yesterday. I started humming a tune from Into the Woods. And he was like, “Oh my God keep singing that! I’ll come in with my part!” Then he was coaching me. I was getting the notes wrong. He was trying to put me in touch with singing teachers. We’re not really shooting Homeland down here.”

The fun fact here is Into the Woods stays to this day as the only musical Damian did on stage in his career about which I blogged about earlier here.

Damian played both the Wolf and Cinderella’s prince in the 1999 Donmar Warehouse production. The musical was nominated for the Outstanding Musical Production at the Laurence Olivier Awards in 1999. Theater critic Kevin Wilson, in particular, raved about Damian Lewis as the Wolf:

“The Wolf, in the hands of Damian Lewis, is a sexy, charismatic character whose death robs the piece one of its greatest assets at an early stage.”

Damian Lewis in Into the Woods playbill, source: ebay.ca

And, lucky us, even though there is no way, and this is the big downside to stage productions, that we can see Damian in that particular Into the Woods, we have Damian singing “Agony” — the musical number he sang as Cinderella’s prince in Into the Woods on Popcorn with Peter Travers a few years ago. In this particular scene, Cinderella’s prince and Rapunzel’s prince, who are brothers, compare the misery that their new found and unobtainable loves give them.

There were rumors in early 2013 that Damian was in some kind of early negotiations to play the lead character in a West End revival of the musical Me and My Girl, set in 1930s and telling the story of Bill Snibson, an “unapologetically unrefined cockney gentleman named Bill who learns that he is the 14th heir to the Earl of Hareford.” It may be that Damian’s schedule in 2013, including Homeland Season 3 shoot, did not let him go ahead with the musical, or it could be something else, but the production did not go through in the end, either.

source: gettyimages.com

Damian, in his recent SAG-AFTRA interview, cites Me and My Girl as one musical that he fell in love with as he talks about which actors he looked up to on stage as he was growing up:

“I totally fell in love with Robert Lindsay and Emma Thompson doing Me and My Girl in the West End which he then took to Broadway and won a Tony for… A lovely 1930s Vaudevillian musical.”

And, guess what, he leans on a wall holding a copy of The Evening Standard and sings “Leaning on a Lamppost” from Me and My Girl as his opening number when he hosts Evening Standard Theatre Awards at the Savoy Hotel in London, in November 2013. Notice Damian’s Movember Moustache!

His tweet about his preparation a few weeks before the awards ceremony is priceless!

Tsvetanka, one of our wonderful readers, has shared with us this little audio file where Damian is singing “ Leaning on a Lamp-post” at the Evening Standard Awards. Well, either he is singing differently from the shower or he is a brilliant performer in the shower! Because, as Tsvetanka points out “he has such a velvet voice and excellent vibrato.”

UPDATE 06/21/2018: Yet, having seen these pics from Damian’s recent performance of Singing in the Rain along with Adrian Lester and Bertie Carvel at the Old Vic’s Bicentenary Ball in May, I would just say:

“Why not, Damian?”

It goes without saying we all have our dreams about Damian on stage and mine is, since I saw him at Ascot Race in 2015, to have Damian sing “there even are places where English completely disappears; in America they haven’t used it for years.” 😀

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Author: Damianista

Academic, Traveler, Blogger, Runner, Theatre Lover, Wine Snob, Part-time New Yorker, and Walking Damian Lewis Encyclopedia :D Procrastinated about a fan's diary on Damian Lewis for a while and the rest is history!
View all posts by Damianista

19 thoughts on “Damian Lewis LOVES Singing Show Tunes! *UPDATED*”

D. what a great blog. I’ve been going to concerts since I was 12. Theater and dance naturally came quickly after. I had the pleasure of seeing Mandy perform at McCarter Theater in Princeton many, many years ago. Many years before that seeing Freddie Mercury in Queen (one of the best, if not the best vocals in rock history) and recently Adam Lambert front for Queen, not too shabby either. Now coming full circle to Damian and Mandy performing Bohemian Rhapsody. What a thrill to have been there. I’m having trouble even picturing it. Wish someone on set had taped that.

Tap hadn’t occurred to me. I’ve seen Damian dance when being introduced on late night talk shows. He’s got rhythm for sure. And he also bursts into song so I knew he could sing. Not surprised he could carry a musical as seen from your Popcorn clip.

While I’m chatting, another great blog on Top Gear JaniaJania. I’ve never seen the show. You and Damian have peaked my interest. Great pics and info. I enjoy his Hamlet hair.

THANK YOU! It was pleasure writing this post (I know, I know, I am saying this for every one that I write, but every one of them is a pleasure to write, it’s true!!!!!0

Ah, can you imagine if someone on the set taped that “Bohemian Rhapsody” duet? Just thinking about it makes me smile BIG! I can’t even! SIGH. know Mandy Patinkin is a Broadway star but I have never seen him on stage — I don’t know if he is still doing stage… but it would be a treat to see him in a live show.

I honestly don’t think Damian will do a musical but dreaming is FREE!

Can’t be happier that Fan Fun is your entertainment in the office 🙂 Have a great weekend!!!!

Yes, exactly – that’s the spirit!
What a LOVELY idea to do some imaginary casting for Carousel!
I would have loved to cast Cate Blanchett in anything with Damian Lewis but I have no idea if she can sing. Anne Hathaway was great in the film version of Les Miserables but, of course, live performance on stage is a different thing. Do you have a favorite? As long as Damian is Bill, I can have anyone as Julie but a good chemistry would help. Now that I am thinking about chemistry, I wonder whether Claire Danes sings!

Let’s start a petition – “We want Damian in a musical – theater or movie (both would be perfect)!” 😀
Two Hours – Damian singing and dancing – it will be a feast for my ears and my eyes. I don`t want briefly snippets (or worse – the lack of such) anymore!
I did`t know you saw him singing at Ascot race. You ‘re so Lucky! I desperately want to see that moment as well as the “Bohemian Rhapsody” – one.
Helen McCrory would be wonderful Eliza Doolittle.
I remember his witty answer to the current situation in Greece – “I think Danny Zuko needs recasting… I’m available” 😀
God, I melt! I’ll be in a romantic mood all day.

It would be fantastic to see Damian LIVE singing/dancing for 2 hours. OMG!!!! It would be a dream none of us would want to wake up from!

Oh, I didn’t see him sing at Ascot! I just saw him in proper attire for Ascot Races and immediately thought about Eliza Doolittle shouting “Move your bloomin’ arse!” My Fair Lady is my favorite musical. Damian Lewis is my favorite actor. So one thing led to another and I now have a dream of Damian being Professor Higgins! 😀

That “Greece” question was silly and Damian’s answer was as witty as it could get! Gotta LOVE the guy! He is VERY quick!

Oh, you said – “we all have our dreams about Damian on stage and mine is…” Sorry, my mistake – I use English without understanding it. I`m a real Eliza Doolittle! 😀
I understand you completely about these “favorite associations” I do this all the time. 😀
Yes, he is VERY quick! I know he’s very smart, yet he “shoots” me every time he says something like that. <3
Gotta LOVE him!

Hi NotLinda! I guess you also got that comment some readers get when they want to leave a comment. You can just “edit” your comment and copy/paste whatever you want to write on “Test” 🙂 It is just a short cut!

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